He laughs. “Well, they claim to have the most unique artifacts and such, so I wanted to check them out.” He then clicks his tongue. “Landon, my fiancé, has the weirdest of interests. Like, if you look at him in passing, he’ll seem like a completely simple, sunshiny kinda guy. But when you see the things he likes to collect, you’ll change your goddamn mind. I remember giving him one of those weird, rubber-made Frankenstein hands on his birthday the year we started dating, and he’s still got it. He uses it as a paperweight in our condo office, and every time I see it just sitting there on the table, I swear it fucking moves an inch closer to the edge.”
I chuckle. “Well, nothing wrong with that. I do love a combo of sweet and crazy myself.” My cheeks heat immediately after I say that, and Julian, of course, notices.
“You little minx; you’ve been holding out on me!” He shoves my shoulder in a playful manner. “Tell me everything!”
I grin. “Not a chance, but Iwillsay that he’s sweet when he wants to be, and abso-fucking-lutely freaky when he’s in the mood. He’s just…I dunno, amazing.”
Someone coughs behind me.
I turn and scowl at Mave, to which he slides his hands in his pant pockets and pretends to look up and around him.
“I’m guessing big guy here doesn’t approve,” Julian remarks.
I roll my eyes. “He doesn’t approve of anything.”
“Excuseyou,” Mave butts in.
“Careful where you’re walking, Maverick,” I taunt. “I don’t want you falling on your ass and breaking your fragile hipbone or something.”
Julian laughs, and Mave mumbles something I can’t quite make out.
We walk past a few more stores, and then finally reachAurora’sAntiquesat the very end of the street. It’s a wood-finished store with a massive glass casing next to its entrance, which showcases a bunch of watches, globes, and vintage mirrors.
Julian pushes open the door and enters the shop, and I follow after him. An overwhelming smell of moth balls and polish permeates the stocked space, making me scrunch my nose against it.
The carpeted floor mutes our footsteps as we walk further into the store, and when I look around, all I see are chairs, more watches, globes, and mirrors, along with clay busts, miniature statues, rusted swords and armors, and Ouija boards.
“That deer head mounted on the wall is judging me,” Mave says, startling me a little.
I blink and glance at the object he’s talking about, only to suck in a breath at how real it looks. It’s as if an actual deer shoved its head into the wall, and was paused by time to remain as is.
“It doesn’t like your scent,” Julian quips.
“Did you just quote Gruthum fromThe Last Kingdom?” Mave asks him.
I stop and face him. “Wait, you’ve seen that Viking show?” I question.
Mave opens his mouth to answer, but stops when a booming yet elegant voice rings through the store.
“Welcome toAurora’sAntiques. My name is Toyah; how may I assist you today?”
The three of us turn to the woman behind the glass display case. Her skin is a lush shade of brown, and she’s wearing leather pants, along with a white silk blouse that’s tucked inside said pants. Her dark hair is wrapped within a beautiful head wrap, while the gold bangles and rings she’s wearing, clink against each other as she steeples her fingers and smiles at us.
Julian walks over to her, so naturally, Mave and I follow.
“Hey there. I’m looking for something small yet unique for my fiancé. It’s his birthday this week,” he says.
The woman nods, then gestures at the case in front of her. “You may have a look at these and see if anything piques your fancy.” She has an English accent – Welsh, most probably.
Mave comes to stand next to me and leans against the case, while Julian and I look at the things on display inside it. Rings, bracelets, daggers, coins, and other trinkets I can’t possibly identify. They look old and invaluable, but for all I know, they’re made of brass and don’t hold a single shred of connection to history. But eh, it’s all about the appeal of these things anyway, and not their authenticity.
All of the items have been kept under a golden light, which makes them appear sparkly and enticing. Well, all except for one. It’s black, square-shaped, with a skull, along with the words ‘DEATH NOTE’ embossed in gold on it. It’s simple, yet it drew my attention the moment I laid eyes on it.
Just like Dorran had the day we met.
“What’s this?” I ask Toyah, then tap my nail against the glass.
“A lighter.” She opens the compartment and pulls the lighter out, then flicks its front panel to the side, bringing a lick of blue flame to life.
